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(b 1759; d 1815). French bronze-caster and gilder. He was the son of a poultry farmer, and began work in the foundry of Pierre Foy, his father-in-law. By 1784 Galle was a major figure in his field, supplying gilt mounts for furniture by Guillaume Beneman and, through Jean Hauré, supplying the palaces of Fontainebleau, Versailles, Saint-Cloud, and Compiègne with furniture, clocks and candelabra. After the Revolution he supplied many works for Napoleon (reg 1804-14) at Saint-Cloud. He went bankrupt with the defeat of Napoleon in 1812, and died in poverty. The business was late revived by Claude's son Gerard-Jean Galle (1788-1846).